Sweet and Refreshing: Top Tips and Tricks for Making Better Smoothies

With smoothies having so many lifestyle and health benefits, it’s no wonder they’ve suddenly spiked in popularity over recent years. Nowadays, more people than ever are making their very own smoothies at home and, as they can be taken anywhere and drunk at any time, they’re transforming making our snacking lifestyles healthier.

But whilst we’d love to think every single smoothie we make is packed with all the good stuff our bodies need if they’re not made using the right ingredients they can actually cause more harm than good. By not taking care to do your research and make smoothies properly, you could unknowingly be consuming colossal amounts of sugar with almost no nutritional value.

So, if you’re keen to start making your own smoothies or are making them already but unsure if you’re doing it properly, here are some top tips and tricks for making better smoothies than ever before!

Get a good blender

Whilst this won’t make your smoothies any healthier, investing in a good blender is almost guaranteed to improve the texture of your smoothies and make the whole blending experience quicker and easier. If you find you have to keep re-blending your smoothies over and over again to get rid of lumps, that’s a clear sign your blender needs to be upgraded!

Vitamix is one of the most well-known blender brands available but, due to the number of different blenders they provide, it can be difficult to decide which one to go for. Here’s some of the best options for your first Vitamix to ensure you make the right choice.

Choose your fruit and vegetables

Once you’ve got your blender sorted, it’s now time to select your core ingredients. The beauty of smoothies is you can virtually include anything you want, meaning you can tailor your fruit and veg choices to suit your particular taste.

In terms of texture, it’s often a good idea to include a banana as this will create a creamy, smooth texture. But, if you can’t stand bananas, yogurt or half an avocado can be great alternatives. Then, simply select your other ingredients and you’re good to go!

Taste is obviously important when it comes to smoothies, so only include a maximum of 3-4 different fruits and vegetables otherwise things could get muddled and taste odd. Berries are always a great option and, if you want to make things really healthy and include some greens, spinach and kale are good ones to start with.

Protein and other extras

For most, fruit and veg are enough to make the base of a smoothie. But, if you want to take your smoothies to the next level you can add protein powders or other nutrition boosters to give your body a real health kick.

It’s recommended to stick to pure powders without any added flavors as some, especially protein powders, can contain artificial ingredients. To avoid this, make sure the protein powders you’re using have a maximum of three ingredients. If they have any more, it’s likely they include something artificial!

Liquids

It’s essential your smoothies have a liquid base otherwise they will be extremely thick, difficult to blend and almost impossible to drink properly. Milk and yogurt are two of the most popular smoothie bases people go for, but you can opt for fruit juice if you want something sweeter.

But if you’re going to use fruit juice, make sure it’s unsweetened otherwise you could unknowingly put in far too much sugar and ruin the nutritional content of your smoothie. Or, if you just want to taste the original ingredients you’ve chosen and don’t want to add any more flavor with your liquid, plain old water will work just fine!

Blend!

If you’ve got yourself a decent blender, you should only need to do this once. Make sure all your desired ingredients have been included in small chunks, and you’re ready to blend it all together and create your smoothie.

It goes without saying to make sure the lid of your blender is securely fastened otherwise you could have a big mess on your hands! And, if you want your smoothie ice-cold, you can always add some crushed ice after you’ve blended. Once the ice is in, simply give it another quick whizz to evenly distribute it.

Smoothies are both convenient and tasty, making them a firm favorite among millions. By simply choosing your ingredients carefully, watching out for high sugar content and investing in a good blender, you’ll be a smoothie expert in no time!

Jenny Wallis started making smoothies for her family back in 2007. After seeing the health benefits through the years she has now become an advocate of the nutritional value of smoothies. She enjoys sharing her insights online.

These are great tips for making smoothies. I agree it’s important to have a good blender. If you don’t have a good blender, then it will not blend your ingredients well. My children love smoothies and if they could, they’d have one every day! 🙂

I invested in a good, heavy duty blender a few years ago and I am glad that I chose that even if it cost more than the other brands. If my boys are ever in the kitchen, you know they’re whipping up their own smoothies! Thank you for this post. I will let them read this too.